HETHEL, England — Future plans for Lotus include a return to motorsports and a revised product lineup that will highlight "credible sports cars that are honest and authentic," said new Group Lotus CEO Dany Bahar in his first formal remarks since assuming his new post on October 1.
"Lotus will return to motorsport," said Bahar in a statement issued by Lotus on Monday. "I believe that this is the perfect platform to showcase our capabilities; racing is part of our heritage. We will investigate participation in IndyCar series, GT and Le Mans racing. F1 is, of course, another motorsport strand that the Lotus name will again be associated with."
Lotus reiterated that ownership of the 1Malaysia F1 team is through a Malaysia-led consortium and that Group Lotus has no direct equity stake in the venture.
The automaker said that Bahar will lay out "detailed plans for the product lineup" in late December. "My vision is simple," Bahar said. "Lotus will be profitable by producing beautiful, environmentally relevant, credible sports cars that are honest and authentic. By doing this, we will return the brand to where it was in the past, and where it rightfully belongs."
Bahar, 37, is the former senior vice president for the Commercial and Brand Department at Ferrari. There, he headed sales and service on the production side, as well as marketing, licensing and merchandising for the Ferrari F1 team. Before joining Ferrari in 2007, he helped put Red Bull on the motorsports map, with forays into Formula 1 and NASCAR.
Inside Line says: We get a peek inside the head of the new Lotus boss, with the promise of more details to come shortly. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent
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